Analytic Geometry » creole

A creole is “a language that originates from two other languages and has features of both”,¹ which is an apt description of analytic geometry, a language formed by combining the languages of Euclidean geometry and algebra.

To further connect analytic geometry with the term creole we point out that Descartes’ Discourse on Method, which is generally regarded as the first work on analytic geometry, was written in French (instead of the standard academic Latin). At that time (1637) French was dismissed as a vernacular by the haut monde in much the same way as creoles are today.

¹Glossary of Linguistics and Rhetoric in Fun with Words, another one of my favorite sites!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Analytic_geometry

http://mathworld.wolfram.com/AnalyticGeometry.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creole_language

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creole